Home on the Range

Chapter 1

History and Geography

• What does History tells us about?• Why in the world do we study history?• Why do we study geography?• How are they the same? Different?

Location• What are some nicknames for Kansas?• What do these say about our location?• What do we mean by – conterminous United

States?• Where is the center of the conterminous

United States?

How to find Location

• How do we find absolute location?• What is the absolute location of Kansas?• What is relative location?• What is the relative location of Kansas?• Look at the map on page 5 and explain why

Osborne county is so important for finding location?

How to find Location

• Look at the map on pages 6-7.• What forms the “bite” in the northeastern

corner of Kansas?• Why is this significant?• Why is it hard to find the city of Lyons on this

map?• What does that tell you about our city?

Place

• What does the term physical features mean?• What are some of the physical features of

Kansas?• Why is Kansas not flat?

Rolling hills, plains, and prairies

• Why do we say that Kansas is environmentally diverse?

• What physical feature is the “heart of the Great Plains”?

• What are 5 characteristics of this prairie, according to the textbook?

Text Feature study

• Look at the sidebar on page 9.• What are the dimensions of Kansas?• What comparisons are made between Kansas

and other states?• Where does Kansas rank in size according to

the other 50 states?

The Permian Sea

• What does the term Permian Sea mean?• How has this sea created many of our natural

resources we have today?• What are those resources?

How Do We Know This?

• Read the article on page 11 of the textbook?• What do fossils tell us about our state?• How do we know Kansas was once covered by

an inland sea?• Who discovered the most famous fossil ever

found?• Where is it located?• How do you think one fish got inside the other

fish?

Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve

• Describe the Flint Hills.• How many different kinds of plants are

there?• How many different kinds of reptiles and

amphibians?• How many different kinds of mammals?• How many acres of tallgrass prairie is left?• Why is it gone?

Water

• Why is water necessary?• What is the only major river in the state that

originates in the Rocky Mountains?• Where do the other rivers originate and into

what river system do they flow?• Where do all rivers in Kansas end up?

The Ogallala Aquifer

• What is the definition of an aquifer?• How is the Ogallala Aquifer used?• How is it replenished?• Why is it in trouble?

Lakes

• How did Kansas get most of its large lakes?• What is the primary purpose of these lakes?• What are some other uses of these lakes?

Cheyenne Bottoms

• Where is Cheyenne Bottoms located?• Why is it different from the other large lakes?• What is it used for?

Protecting our Water

• Why do we need to protect our water?• What did Kansas do because the water from

the Arkansas was not reaching us?• What fight occurred over the Kansas River?• How do we balance the needs of all living

things with human and business desires?

Climate

• What word is used to describe the Kansas Climate?

• Describe the Rain Shadow

Highs and Lows

• What are the temperature extremes?– Highs– Lows

Wind Chill

• How does wind relate to the name Kansas?• How does the wind affect the air

temperatures?

Precipitation

• What is another word for precipitation?• What forms can that take?• What is the average precipitation across the

state?• What would the word arid mean?

Tornados, Blizzards, Droughts, and Floods

• What is a surprising fact about Kansas tornados?

• What conditions are usually present before a blizzard?

• What does the word drought mean?• What problems can occur when rainfall is too

little? Too much?

Reading a Newspaper Activity

• Turn to page 16 in the textbook• What is a primary source?• Complete the activity on this page. Answer

questions 1-4 on a separate sheet of paper.

Grasslands

• Describe the different grasses as you progress across the state from east to west.

• What are the names of the different grasses?• What two purposes do the grasslands

provide?

Prairie Fires

• How do prairie fires contribute to the life cycle of the prairie?

• Why are forests unusual for Kansas?• Where are the woodlands found?• What kind of trees are mostly found in

Kansas?• List the native trees

Animals

• List the animals that have vanished or almost vanished from Kansas.

• List the animals that still live in Kansas.• What animal is the most abundant in Kansas?

Invasion of the Grasshoppers!

• Give some interesting facts about the Grasshopper Invasion of the 1870s.

Regions of Kansas

• Kansas is made up of 11 physiographic regions.

• What does physiographic regions mean?

Regions of Kansas

• Most of Kansas is covered by Sedimentary Rock

• What is sedimentary rock?

• How does this tell us about our past?

Primeval Kansas

• Look at map on page 20 in the textbook

• Find the Ozark Plateau on the map• What color is it?• The Ozark Plateau is made up of

mostly – Limestone– ChertThese rocks are over 300 million years old

Regions of Kansas

• Now find the Cherokee Lowlands

• What color are they on the map?

• This was once a swamp.

• One rock found here is COAL

• Land of strip mining

Regions of Kansas

• Find the brownish colored area on the map

• What is the name of this area?• This area is known for its limestone

and natural gas.

Regions of Kansas

• Find the Chautauqua Hills

• What color is it on the map?

• We find sandstone here.

• Sandstone is made at a river delta

• What does this tell us about this area?

Regions of Kansas

• Find the pink area on the map• What is the name of this area?• This area has limestone and chert• Why does it have the name it has

then?• This is very hard rock and does not

erode easily.

Regions of Kansas

• Find the Wellington and McPherson Lowlands on the map

• What color are they?• This is really good wheat country• We find shale here• We find Gypsum here• We find salt here

Regions of Kansas

• Find the Red Hills on the map• What color are they?• This area is made up of red shale and

gray gypsum• Look at the picture at the bottom of

the page to see what they look like.

Regions of Kansas

• Find the large green area on the map• What is the name of this area?• What causes the smoky look of these

hills?• This area has sandstone, limestone,

and chalk.• What do these rocks tell us about the

history of this area?

Regions of Kansas

• The largest area on the map is called what?

• What color is it?• There are no

sedimentary rocks here

• What does that tell us about this area?

• This is the flattest part of Kansas

• Home of Mount Sunflower – 4,000 ft above sea level.

Regions of Kansas

• Follow the Arkansas river on the map• This area is called the Arkansas River

Lowlands• It has been eroded by water and

wind• The soil is sandy• People get water from the Ogallala

Acquifer• How does this contribute to Lyons?

Regions of Kansas

• Go to the North East corner of the map

• What is this area called?

• This is the only area of Kansas once covered by a glacier.

Primeval Kansas

• Now use the map and the information about each area and decide which area Lyons is located in.

• Why do you think this is the correct area?

Interaction of Humans and the Environment

• How have humans changed the environment?

• What did this cause?• How did we solve the problem?